Tony Pulis would not be drawn into a direct opinion on the subject of Liverpool's problems in the aftermath of Saturday's match at the Britannia Stadium, but there was a smile of quiet satisfaction on his face as he discussed the owners with whom he deals every day at Stoke City.

"Foreign owners? Don't get me started," he said, thinking back to the time, in the summer of 2005, when he was fired by the Icelandic consortium which had bought two thirds of the club's shares. He had saved the club from relegation but the Icelandic directors appointed a Dutchman, Johan Boskamp, to replace him. Although Boskamp spent money, results did not improve and he left at the end of his first season, along with the owners, who sold out to Peter Coates, a former majority shareholder, who returned as chairman and restored Pulis to the manager's office.

Coates had secured his initial stake in the club with money made from stadium catering in the north of England. By the time he bought his second shareholding it was with a fortune made from a Stoke-based online betting company whose logo now appears on the players' shirts.

"I've got a fellow here who was born and bred in Stoke," Pulis continued. "He's an absolute Stoke City nut. So is his son. And his grandson. All Stoke City nuts. It's reassuring to know that he puts this club first and foremost, above everything."

Stoke City are operating at a loss, which means that Coates has to subsidise them – just as Nigel Doughty, a private equity investor, has spent eight years funding the efforts of Nottingham Forest, his local club, to regain a place in the top flight, or, among other examples, Dave Whelan and Bill Kenwright have used their own money to support Wigan Athletic and Everton. There is no suggestion that conditions have been attached to Coates's generosity, believed to amount to at least £10m, or that his plans involve preparing the club for a profitable sale.

"Whatever other clubs do is up to them," Pulis said, "but I know what my parameters are, what I can and can't do. We're desperately trying to stay in this league for the next three years, for the benefits of the Sky TV money and everything that comes with it. The chairman realises it's three years. It's about looking a little further than the end of your nose."

Contrast Pulis's experience not just with that of Rafa Benítez at Liverpool but that of whoever is managing Queens Park Rangers this week. Since Flavio Briatore, the egregious Italian playboy-entrepreneur, took over just under two-and-a-half years ago – never having previously set foot in the ground – as the front man for a triumvirate completed by his pals Bernie Ecclestone and Lakshmi Mittal, no fewer than six "permanent" managers and several caretakers have occupied the home bench at Loftus Road.

Whatever Briatore's record may be in other areas of business, his stewardship of a club founded more than 120 years ago is a scandal, violating every tenet of tradition and common sense. Chairmen should not impose their will on managers when it comes to picking the team (although there is nothing wrong with them plaintively issuing requests via the media, as Silvio Berlusconi, Briatore's compatriot, used to do to catch the ear of Carlo Ancelotti, mostly without success) and when it comes to changing managers, they should err on the side of patience and trust rather than behaving like Caligula, who disposed of his senators with a brutal whimsicality.

Caligula ended up by making his horse a consul, which suggests that he would have felt right at home in English football, among the current breed of owners who see the game as a suitable vehicle for their vanity or greed. Perhaps Briatore will one day give in to the urge to occupy the dug-out himself. There is nothing, sadly, to stop him.

Team Sky look ready to aim for the stars

Only six months ago the sight of a line of riders in white, yellow and black jerseys only minutes from the end of a race would have meant precisely one thing: another win for the all-conquering Columbia-HTC team. But in a pulsating finale to Sunday's criterium in Adelaide, an hors-d'oeuvre for the Tour Down Under, the Columbia boys were disconcerted to see a file of six riders in blue slide past with less than 5km to go. The brand-new Team Sky were on the march.

The Columbia riders regrouped and charged back into the lead, but a second Sky attack was good enough to give Greg Henderson and Chris Sutton the sort of one-two finish that Columbia's Mark Cavendish and Mark Renshaw achieved on the Champs-Elysees back in July. Neither Cavendish nor Renshaw was present on Sunday, but don't forget that their understudies were good enough to contribute to the team's 86 wins last year. Maybe, just maybe, the British-based Sky squad will be good enough to justify their lavish funding with a repetition of the success masterminded by their boss, Dave Brailsford, in the Beijing Velodrome. In which case, their rivals had better start worrying.

Ferguson should find a role for Cole

If Sir Alex Ferguson really wants to do something about Manchester United's persistent lack of creativity, he should talk to Chelsea about Joe Cole. Still feeling his way back after injury, Cole is out of contract in the summer and arguing about a new deal. At 28, and with 53 England caps, he has both the experience to cope with such a move and the inventiveness lacking among United's existing midfielders, as well as boundless enthusiasm. He may not want to leave his native London, but he could be attracted by the idea of finishing his career on such a stage. Wayne Rooney, too, would probably be pleased to get some help.

Maybe Foden should not be dropped, even if the ball is

Ben Foden? I take it all back. If the Northampton full-back can put on an England shirt and still set up tries like the one he made for Chris Ashton at Franklin's Gardens on Sunday, he can drop all the high balls he wants.